Why do Opiates give you energy??

[StillLost21]

If opiates are a "downer" drug, compared to cocaine and meth which are clearly upper drugs, why does it give you so much energy? When I do opiates I get a huge burst of energy to accomplish everything in my day and more. I can run around doing a million things, and I am so motivated. Sometimes I feel like I just took some adderall or something. So, does anyone know why opiates produce these effects in a person, and give them a lot of energy?

Oh, also, if I remember correctly, when I first started taking opiates it did not give me these same effects, instead of energy, I got tired, and would lay on the couch, however, after a few months, it totally changed, its like I am taking a different drug now. Did anyone else have these same experiences? Or know why it gives you energy??

Thanks

[laurel453]

I remember that soon after arriving here i read in someone's journal a really good article about it, it was written in terms i could understand it so well being ignorant of medical terms and etc..... It made me understand the process my brain went during and after using drugs, it helped me a lot knowing what it was going to be expected and why the importance of staying clean  (knowledge is power, yes )  and the reasons i should give myself time enough to start healing even if i didn't feel very well for some time, it's so worthed it!!!!!!

i kept it in my laptop so i have read it again and let's see if i'm able to explain it rightly, what the article stated fits well with the rest of the posts.

we release the natural dopamine in a "normal" life and our brain has a receptor for it. It's like a "gate", we release it and we open this gate to receive it. In a normal life, we release a normal amount ( with food, sex, etc....), the gate receives the normal amount and we feel good with energy and so on. The thing is that drugs, opiates release dopamine in a veeery high level ( meaning a really higher amount of these normal levels). At first, our gate can't cope with this incredible amount but soon after using and here comes the problem, friends, our brain starts creating and opening another gate to cope with this extra quantity of dopamine. After a while we need increasing our dose to "feed" the old and the new gates. We soon have more gates to feed and at the same time, we keep opening new gates so even increasing the amount we take is  not enough. We lose these feelings of being happy, high, energetic ...after some time of using them (we started feeding one baby and soon we are parenting octuples and increasing the family non stop ;) )

that's the reason why our tolerance is much higher and we  can take doses that to any normal person could kill them. Instead of the normal brain with one gate, we have a brain with 20 gates after some years of abusing. it's not the same amount of gates after  months of using opiates  that after  years as i understand from this.

so now, what happens when we stop using... just as our brains tell us that we need to eat and if we were to stop feeding ourselves, our brains would fight fiercely to be fed because we need food to live, we have tricked our brains with so many gates that our brain thinks that we need opiates to live....so we go into these emotions that tells us in any possible way that we need opiates ( cravings, depression, lack of energy, etc ) and we must keep saying our brains NO by staying clean of them for our brains to "understand" it . Yeah, we have  more gates now and they are not going to dissapear but after time enough, those gates stop opening and stop sending the signal of needing to be fed.

the trick to keep those gates silent so we can repair some of the damage done  is only  time and abstinence because when we use again  opiates, the gates will open again with the sudden amount of high levels of dopamine and we can start soon being abusing again because we have re start  again the process of having to feed not one gate but some more and soon all of them.

sooo....it was stated in the article that it takes months and sometimes a year to make those gates stop asking for their doses. We have to be very careful also all the time with alcohol, for instance . Because whenever we take something that make us release a very high level of dopamine, we are sending the signals to our brains that we might need  be opening some of those silent gates ..and so on. That's why some people could start a new addiction through alcohol. We should also be careful with sugar soon after detoxing and in the early days of recovery because we are going to be craving sugar as another way of needing dopamine super extra...that's why sugar cravings are also common after detoxing, it's our brain fighting for what he was used to... :)

sorry for the long post but i hope this has helped to answer some of the issues here , good luck to all and keep fighting, eh    :)

[trump4prez]

Great. Thx.

[callensberg]

I guess it depends on why you take it.  I have rheumatoid and Sjogrens, both of which cause pain and extreme fatigue.  Were talking fatigue that feels like I'm a wet bag of sand.  Not sleepy, but unable to move fatigue.  I don't take much in Opiates, but maybe 1 to 1.5 pill per day.  it's the only way I can move and so anything.  Unless you're going through it, you don't understand.  The problem is when other abuse this medication and everyone else gets a stigma because of the people who just want to be high.  People with true needs seldom abuse it.

[UnaLunaT]

I am starting to believe that genuinely having chronic pain is an issue we kinda get use to living around and when we use opiates; that pain is suddenly vanished and we feel more capable of doing things most people tend to take for granted not doing in discomfort or agony.

[MnRoth]

I don't know the answer. I have been asking the same question. I have chronic back pain from an injury I am on Oxycontin extended release 30mg twice a day and it has never worked normal it only last 8 to 9 hours instead of the 12 it is supposed to. I have Narco for break through pain that only last about 10 days because the Oxycontin don't work right. The Oxycontin makes me lethargic and don't do much for pain the Narco/Hydrocodone takes the pain down to a 2 out of 10 pain scale and gives me lots of energy. The Narco worked this way even before starting the Oxycontin.

[Liftedupagain]

I think you may have cervical issues..I had a cervical spinal infusion done in June that completely got rid of all my back pain..then in July I had spinal stenosis surgery and it took care of my chronis arm and shoulder pain..I only take 2 7.5 percocets a day and it gives me some relief due to nerve damage I had from the spinal stenosis..you should talk to a spinal orthopedic specialist and have your back examined..I hope you feel better soon..

[sephy_sama]

Opiates suppress the stimulants epinepherine and norepinephrine (aka adrenaline and noradrenaline), slow down your breathing, and decrease your ability to feel pain.  They also cause a rise in dopamine (the reward system in your brain).  So, initially, when you just start taking opiates (or the synthetics which are referred to opioids), you have a tendency to feel sleepy, pain free, and rewarded.  Once your body becomes physically dependent, your body rebounds in attempt to normalize your body's physical functions to allow you to live normally. So, rather than suppressing epineprine and norepinephrine, your brain starts producing more to counteract the sleepy effects of opiates(which would be the reduction of epinephrine and norepinephrine).  The rate at which you become tolerant to different effects of drugs is different for every effect.  In the case of opiates, tolerance to the slowed heart rate happens pretty quickly, whereas tolerance to the constipation is virtually zero.  So, I believe in the case of opiate/opioid use, the longer you use, your brains overproduction of the stimulants adrenaline and noradrenaline causes you to be wakeful while the opioids stimulation of dopamine gives you a satisfied rewarding feeling.  The combination of these two factors allows you to be more productive when you use opioids for a long time. When you just starting using, you feel tired because your adrenaline is far too suppressed, but through continuous exposure it returns back to baseline or is produced in excess allowing you to be awake.  Combined with the happy rewarding feeling of dopamine along with the analgesia produced and it feels almost like you're basically on a milder version of an amphetamine.

Of course, the biggest problem with opioid use is tolerance and dependence.  As with most physical dependencies, there exists a latency period where your body is adjusting its outputs of neurotransmitters to counteract the effects of drug usage.  The same is true for when you quit.  Once you quit opioid use, your dopamine levels are down making almost nothing feel pleasurable, your endorphin levels are down causing your body to be in physical pain, you're always throwing up or having diarrhea along with other gut issues because the opioids once slowed down your guts and now they're overly stimulated, and your heart is always racing to the point where at times it feels like it wants to explode because your epinephrine and norepinphrine levels are so high.  So, use your opioids sparingly in order to not become dependent.  Even if you are using your opioids as your doctor orders too, you can still become dependent.  It's the job of a doctor to make sure that when it's time to quit your pain pills that he puts you on a proper taper in order to reduce withdrawal symptoms.

I'm an addict.  These things I speak from experience and accumulated knowledge.  Don't get addicted to drugs.  It's terrible when you have to wake up in the morning wondering how you're going to get your next fix so you can get up out of your bed and do things and not throw up everywhere and **** all over yourself.

And for anyone who IS addicted to opioids, ask your doctor for some clonidine.  It suppresses norepinpherine so it works wonders for your racing heart when you're in withdrawal.  It does not kill the pain but helps a lot with the racing heart and consequently the hot and cold sweats.  Of course you could become dependent on that too, but you shouldn't take it for too long anyways and taper it as you should all other drugs you can become physically dependent on.

[EvolverU]

Hi There & Welcome :)

If you check the date of the thread you commented on you'll see that it's old & that the original poster (OP) hasn't commented since 2010. When you see that little hourglass symbol by a thread, always check to see if it's active or if people are just asking their own questions on it. If you'd like to receive responses to your post, it's better to post your own thread by going to the top of the page, hitting the orange button that reads 'post a question' & writing it out. Thanks!:)

[handywoman]

what do you do when you have chronic pain. Pain that is so intense you feel like you want to shoot yourself to stop the pain. I have a lot of health issues and only take oxycodone when in pain. Usually at night because the pain keeps me awake. I have had to use them for three years now and I know I am physically addicted, but if you were to tell me that a vitamin would do the same thing I would have no problem stopping the medicine. I don't feel high tired sleepy dizzy or anything else. Some times I feel good physically and get a burst of energy which is nice because I get things done.
My issue is that I have been clean and sober 30 years before I had to start taking the pills, and I am happy and thank God I have never felt high taking them. I think that because I take them only when I am in pain the medicine works on the pain and not on getting high.

[handywoman]

what do you do when you have chronic pain. Pain that is so intense you feel like you want to shoot yourself to stop the pain. I have a lot of health issues and only take oxycodone when in pain. Usually at night because the pain keeps me awake. I have had to use them for three years now and I know I am physically addicted, but if you were to tell me that a vitamin would do the same thing I would have no problem stopping the medicine. I don't feel high tired sleepy dizzy or anything else. Some times I feel good physically and get a burst of energy which is nice because I get things done.
My issue is that I have been clean and sober 30 years before I had to start taking the pills, and I am happy and thank God I have never felt high taking them. I think that because I take them only when I am in pain the medicine works on the pain and not on getting high.

[karas404]

Good read. I am a "casual "user, when I can get them from the doctor, and I really want to stop.  This  has helped me.  Thanks, Karas404

[littlelouis]

i have an injured wrist n the ONLY time i use Vicodin is if im almost in tears, because i dont want to take that chance of getting hooked. only when ibsu dont work will i use them.

[mistery76]

That was very helpful, thank you!

[student1986]

sorry for the double post.  weird.  

laurel453, be careful where you get your information from.  A lot of information on the interent is not from a credible source. The only information you can take as being absolute comes from peer reviewed journal articles, such as the New England Journal of Medicine, or Nature, etc (there are many).  As I said, and as several physicians have taught me, opioids have not been shown to act on dopaminergic receptors.  While there is speculation that opioid abuse does indirectly affect dopamine levels, these are only speculations.  But ill explain what they think is going on.  Within our cells, there are signalling pathways that carry out various functions. One protein signals another protein, which then signals another protein, etc., etc. eventually causing the cell to "do something." Opioids bind receptors on the cell surface which initiate these signalling pathways.  The pathways initiated by specific opioids are different from those initiated by dopamine.  BUT, some believe there is some cross-reactivity and that opioids indirectly activate dopaminergic pathways too.  Now the article laurel453 posted eludes to our bodies "making more gates." Not exactly...IF opioids are in fact activating dopaminergic pathways, this could lead to dopamine receptor downregulation.  Now if you go off opioids, our body is still producing dopamine BUT it has nothing to bind to because the receptors have been downregulated (aka no longer on the cell surface) and therefore the signalling pathways it activates do not get activated and that is what leads to addicts feeling depressed, etc. during recovery.

Laurel453, could you send me a link to the article? I'd be interested to know where its from and what sources they provide for these claims.  I'm not saying they are wrong, in fact, what I read sounds more like the effects of cocaine on the body, not opioids.  

I've posted a link to a peer reviewed article summary from the British Journal of Psychiatry and in the conclusions you will see that the researchers DID NOT find that opioids affect dopaminergic responses.  

http://bjp.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/abstract/193/1/65

This is just a summary, you need an institution code to read the entire article.  I have one, so if anyones interested in the science behind the study, I'd be happy to post the complete article.  

quitinoxys, as far as I know, there isn't much that can jump start endorphin production.  Its a well known fact in the medical world the Capsaicin (the active chemical in red chili peppers) stimulates endorphin release, as does acupuncture (causing pain), sex and exercise.  BUT, if your not producing it, there isn't anything to release/very little of it.  Your body will start to produce endorphins once your clean.  I'd just like to point out that its not like you have no endorphin production, just a reduced capacity to produce them.  Although sometimes, even small increases or decreases in something can have dramatic effects within our bodies.  D-Phenylalanine is an amino acid thats reputed mechanism of action involves blocking the degradation of what endorphins we do have.  I will not give out medical advice regarding natural health products because they are not regulated and you never know whats actually in them, but if you choose, you may give that a try.

Take care,

CH

[student1986]

Our endorphins are actually natural opioids and substances like oxycodone (a semi-synthetic opioid) mimic our endorphins.  Exogenous opioids DO NOT induce the release of endorphins, quite the contrary, they suppress the release of our endorpins.  This is why recovering addicts suffer from rebound pain, because our body's are no longer releasing these natural pain killing chemicals as it normally would be.  But they are produced and released after we've gotten clean.  There is no evidence in any medical literature that proves opioids act at the chemical synapse (for example on dopaminergic neurons), but this has been suggested by several experts.  As several people have said, feeling "high" gives you a sense of well-being, which for you may translate into energy, but dont be fooled, eventually, they will slow you down.  And you may not even realize it, but they probably are slowing you down even now.

Hope this helps answer your question

CH

[Witt65]

They had the same effect on me ,great energy, the want to accomplish all my work , feeling great all the time,  the best i have ever felt in my life, me and the wife got along great and great with eery body, ao whats the catch ? Whats in norcos or any pain pill that gives me that feeling great feeling ?

[Witt65]

I am aslo add adhd etc. Does this make a difference on the effect this drug norco has on me ?

[laurel453]

http://www.medhelp.org/user_journals/show/13859/Dopamine-and-addiction

wowww...i just managed this, hahah

[IBKleen]

I'll talk to the CL's about creating the page. I'm a little rusty myself.

[laurel453]

i don't know how to do it but i can look for the journal ( i know it was worried's ) i can "bump" it and with the proper article ( much better said and explained than my post ) maybe some of you could create the health page ?

i found a lot of good info in worried's journals :)

[IBKleen]

Laurel,

You can create a health page for it. I think it would be helpful to a lot of members. Good stuff!

[quitinoxys]

laurel is there a link on this forum where article such as this could be published. I think it would be a GREAT benefit for people going through this to be able to understand what has and is happening to there body's. If there is you should publish it there. It certain was for me.

[laurel453]

thanks, quitin...yeah, it helped me a lot at the time to understand where i was.

[quitinoxys]

Excellent article it explains it all with getting all biochemical on it. No the post wasn't too long it was just right.

[quitinoxys]

Is there anything to help the body jump-start the endorphins once you've been clean for a will as I rather have my natural opioids take care of my pain of course. Right now I am feeling rebound pain and I am toughing it out so far.  Are there any Amino Acids supps I can use. Please let me know.

[student1986]

Our endorphins are actually natural opioids and substances like oxycodone (a semi-synthetic opioid) mimic our endorphins.  Exogenous opioids DO NOT induce the release of endorphins, quite the contrary, they suppress the release of our endorpins.  This is why recovering addicts suffer from rebound pain, because our body's are no longer releasing these natural pain killing chemicals as it normally would be.  But they are produced and released after we've gotten clean.  There is no evidence in any medical literature that proves opioids act at the chemical synapse (for example on dopaminergic neurons), but this has been suggested by several experts.  As several people have said, feeling "high" gives you a sense of well-being, which for you may translate into energy, but dont be fooled, eventually, they will slow you down.  And you may not even realize it, but they probably are slowing you down even now.

Hope this helps answer your question

CH

[dominosarah]

Opiates give you a false sense of security...You think you are full of energy but you are being dragged down down down.......You will be surprised to find out the lack of energy you really had once you get clean.......As Lee said, everything is a mess.       sara

[kittycat1433]

I also should tell you my now dead husband who blew his brains OUT felt super energy of fthease pills he was the nicest man ever with all the energy you could ever imagine only when on the drugs other than thathe was a monster abusive in every way that you could ever imagine evey drug reacts diffrent just depends on the person some get energy some dance some killthemselves after the drug has worne off and the list goes on.kitty and by the way im married to the best man ever now he is a walmart driverof22yrs no drugs no nothing but goodness and alot of patients to put up with a person like me!!!!

[kittycat1433]

They are all telling you and warning you that was the reaon i took hydros i thought i could move the world in a day i felt great and i d meen great! NOW all it does is make me feel awful the worst my stomach,head,body everything like you have the flu but worse im on sub so i don't have to go thru the living hell anymore unless i put myself thereand yes i have but i for once am relizing im paying to be sick i think i try to fool myself every now and again but it just does not work for me anymore so i pray i can remain on the sub and everything will work out in the end!!!! TRUST ME the energy is the devil in ya rite now.